Tournament Gaming System and Method

ABSTRACT

A tournament gaming system for gaming machines. A common amount is gambled in the tournament by two or more players, which forms a tournament pot. A common wagering game is played, the wagers being separate from and in addition to the common amount gambled. On a tournament terminating event, a prize to one or more of the players from the tournament pot

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Australian Application No. 2009902635, filed Jun. 9, 2009, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

[Not Applicable]

MICROFICHE/COPYRIGHT REFERENCE

[Not Applicable]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to gaming machines and methods of gaming. A particular embodiment of the present invention relates to gaming systems offering tournament play.

With the increase of gambling at gaming venues has come increased competition between gaming venues to obtain a larger share of the total gambling spend. Gaming venue operators have therefore continuously looked for new variations and types of games in order to attract both new and return customers to their venues.

In response to this need, suppliers of gaming devices and systems have attempted to provide the sought after variety, while still developing games that comply with the relevant regulations in the jurisdiction of the gaming venue operator. Suppliers of gaming devices therefore are faced with restrictions on the types of games and gaming machines that are allowable, both in terms of the prevailing regulations and in terms of providing a return on investment to the gaming venue operators.

One way in which entertainment may be provided at gaming venues is to enable players to enter a tournament, where the players compete against the house and/or each other. There is a continuing demand for gaming systems that can offer a tournament and for new ways of conducting tournaments.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of providing a tournament game for use with a plurality of linked gaming machines that are each arranged to select symbols, present the selected symbols on a display and award an award if a winning outcome occurs, the method including:

-   -   establishing a common amount to gamble in the tournament between         two or more players, wherein the collective amounts to gamble         form a tournament pot;     -   playing a common wagering game in which each matched player         stakes a wager on game plays of the wagering game and is awarded         a prize for any win occurring in that game play, wherein the         wager is separate from and in addition to said common amount to         gamble and wherein each matched player is required to stake the         same wager on their respective game plays;     -   on a tournament terminating event, awarding a prize to one or         more of the players from the tournament pot.

In one embodiment, the common wagering game is presented differently to two or more of the players.

In one embodiment, the step of playing the common wagering game includes setting a fixed starting amount available to be wagered by each said player and maintaining a balance available to be wagered, wherein the value of the balance increases for wins and decreases losses in the common wagering game. The prize from the tournament pot may be awarded to one or more winning players, wherein a said winning player is identified from the respective balances of the players. A winning player may be the last player playing the wagering game that has a non-zero balance. In one version of this embodiment, on a tournament terminating event, if a player has a non-zero balance available to be wagered, then that player retains the balance in addition to any prize from the tournament pot. A terminating event may be the balance of every player except one reaching zero, in which case the player with a non-zero balance may be awarded the entire tournament pot. The fixed starting amount available to be wagered may have a defined mathematical relationship with the common amount to gamble, which may be equality.

In one embodiment, the step of establishing a common amount to gamble includes providing each player a choice of the amount to gamble, and matching two or more players by their respective chosen amounts to gamble. The steps of offering a choice and matching may include displaying to a player one or more other players willing to play the tournament and those player's respective chosen amounts to gamble; and allowing the player to complete the step of matching by making a selection from the other players displayed.

In one embodiment, the method may include providing an option to the player of a said gaming machine to play the tournament, wherein if play of the tournament is not selected, the player can play the wagering game without also wagering said amount to gamble.

The tournament may be provided between two players only. In other embodiments, the tournament is provided between three or more players.

In one embodiment, the common wagering game played by each player in a said tournament provides a substantially equal expected return for the wagers staked.

In one embodiment, the common wagering game played by each player has identical mathematics.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a gaming system including a plurality of linked gaming machines that are each arranged to select symbols, present the selected symbols on a display and award an award if a winning outcome occurs, the gaming system operating to:

-   -   establish a common amount to gamble in the tournament between         two or more players, wherein the collective amounts to gamble         form a tournament pot;     -   play a common wagering game in which each matched player stakes         a wager on game plays of the wagering game and is awarded a         prize for any win occurring in that game play, wherein the wager         is separate from and in addition to said common amount to gamble         and wherein each matched player is required to stake the same         wager on their respective game plays;     -   on a tournament terminating event, award a prize to one or more         of the matched players from the tournament pot.

In one embodiment, the gaming system establishes a fixed starting amount available to be wagered by each said player in the common wagering game and the gaming machines each maintain a balance available to be wagered, wherein the value of the balance increases for wins and decreases losses in the common wagering game; the gaming system awards the prize from the tournament pot to one or more winning players, wherein a said winning player is identified from the respective balances of the players; and if on a said tournament terminating event, a player has a non-zero balance available to be wagered, then the gaming machine played by that player retains the balance in its credit meter and also pays to the credit meter any said prize payable to the player of that gaming machine from the tournament pot. In this embodiment, a terminating event may be one or more of the players reaching a balance of zero and a said winning player is a player with a non-zero balance on occurrence of the terminating event.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided instructions executable in a gaming system to implement the method as described in the preceding paragraphs and to such instructions when stored in a storage medium readable by the game controller.

Further aspects of the present invention and further embodiments of the aspects described in the preceding paragraphs will become apparent from the following description, given by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1: shows diagrammatically, a view of a gaming console suitable for implementing the present invention.

FIG. 2: shows a block diagram of gaming machine suitable for implementing the present invention.

FIG. 3: shows a block diagram of components of the memory of the gaming machine represented in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4: shows diagrammatically, a network gaming system suitable for implementing the present invention.

FIG. 5: shows a flow diagram of a process performed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6: shows an example of a menu for a display, showing gaming machines waiting to enter into tournament mode.

FIG. 7: shows an example of a tournament screen.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings, one example of a gaming console that is suitable to implement the present invention is generally referenced by arrow 114.

The gaming console 114 includes two displays 106A, 106B on one or both of which is displayed representations of a game that can be played by a player and a bank of buttons 107A and/or a touch screen 107B to enable a player to play the game. The displays 106 may be video display units, such as a cathode ray tube screen device, a liquid crystal display, plasma screen, any other suitable video display unit, or the visible portion of an electromechanical device. The display 106B may display artwork, including for example, pay tables and details of bonus awards and other information or images relating to the game. In alternative gaming consoles the display 106B may be omitted, optionally replaced by a static display.

A credit input including a coin input 110A and/or bill collector 1108 allows a player to provide credit for wagering and a coin output 111 is provided for cash payouts from the gaming console 114. A card and/or ticket reader 108 and a printer 109 may be provided to provide player tracking, cashless game play or other gaming and non-gaming related functions.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a gaming machine, generally referenced by arrow 100, suitable for implementing the present invention. The gaming machine 100 may include the gaming console 114 shown in FIG. 1 and accordingly like reference numerals have been used to describe like components in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The gaming machine 100 includes a game controller 101, which in the illustrated example includes a computational device 102, which may be a microprocessor, microcontroller, programmable logic device or other suitable device. Instructions and data to control operation of the computational device 102 are stored in a memory 103, which is in data communication with, or forms part of, the computational device 102. Typically, the gaming machine 100 will include both volatile and non-volatile memory and more than one of each type of memory, with such memories being collectively represented by the memory 103. The instructions to cause the game controller 101 to implement the present invention will be stored in the memory 103. The instructions and data for controlling operation of the computational device 102 may be stored on a computer readable medium from which they are loaded into the gaming machine memory 103. The instructions and data may be conveyed to the gaming machine by means of a data signal in a transmission channel. Examples of such transmission channels include network connections, the Internet or an intranet and wireless communication channels.

The game controller 101 may include hardware credit meters 104 for the purposes of regulatory compliance and also include an input/output (I/O) interface 105 for communicating with the peripheral devices of the gaming machine 100. The input/output interface 105 and/or the peripheral devices may be intelligent devices with their own memory for instructions and data.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the peripheral devices that communicate with the controller are the displays 106, bank of buttons/touch screen 107, the card and/or ticket reader 108, the printer 109, a bill acceptor and/or coin input 110 and a coin output 111. Additional devices may be included as part of the gaming machine 100, or devices omitted as required for the specific implementation.

The bank of buttons 107A and/or touch screen 107B together with one or both of the displays 106 may provide a user interface 115 through which the gaming machine 100 and player communicate. If a card/ticket reader 108 is provided, this may also form part of the user interface 115.

In addition, the gaming machine 100 may include a communications interface, for example a network card 112. The network card 112, may for example, send status information, accounting information or other information to a central controller, server or database and receive data or commands from the central controller, server or database. The network card 112 may also enable communication with a central player account, allowing cashless gaming. One or more of the peripheral devices, for example the card/ticket reader 108 may be able to communicate directly with the network card 112. The network card 112 and the I/O interface 105 may be suitably implemented as a single machine communications interface.

The game controller 101 may also include a random number generator 113, which generates a series of random numbers that are used by the computational device 102 to determine the outcomes of games played on the gaming machine 100.

The game controller 101 may have distributed hardware and software components that communicate with each other directly or through a network or other communication channel. The game controller 101 may also be located in part or in its entirety remote from the user interface 115. Also, the computational device 102 may include a plurality of devices, which may be local or remote from each other. Instructions and data for controlling the operation of the user interface 115 may be conveyed to the user interface 115 by means of a data signal in a transmission channel. The user interface 115 may be a computational device, for example a personal computer, used by a person to play a game provided from a remote game controller 101.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary block diagram of the main components of the memory 103. The RAM 103A typically temporarily holds instructions and data related to the execution of game programs and communication functions performed by the computational controller 102. The EPROM 103B may be a boot ROM device and/or may contain system and game related code. The mass storage device 103C may be used to store game programs, the integrity of which may be verified and/or authenticated by the computational controller 102 using protected code from the EPROM 103B or elsewhere.

FIG. 4 shows a gaming system 200 in the form of a network of devices. The gaming system 200 includes a network infrastructure 201, which for example may be in the form of an Ethernet network. Alternatively, a wireless network and/or direct communication channels, or a different type of network may be used to link the gaming machines to a server, each other and/or other devices. Gaming consoles 114, shown arranged in three banks 203 of two gaming consoles 114 in FIG. 4, are connected to the network infrastructure 201. The gaming consoles 114 may form part or all of a gaming machine 100. Single gaming consoles 114 and banks 203 containing three or more gaming consoles 114 may also be connected to the network infrastructure 201, which may also include bank controllers, hubs, routers, bridges to other networks and other devices (not shown).

One or more displays 204 may also be connected to the network 201. The displays 204 may, for example, be associated with a bank 203 of gaming consoles 114. The displays 204 may be used to display representations associated with game play on the gaming consoles 114, and/or used to display other representations, for example promotional or informational material.

Servers may also be connected to the network 201. For example, a game server 205 may generate game outcomes for games played on one or more of the gaming consoles 114, a database management server 206 may manage the storage of game programs and associated data in a database 206A so that they are available for downloading to, or access by, game controllers 101, and a jackpot server 207 may control one or more jackpots for the gaming system 200.

Further servers may be provided to assist in the administration of the gaming system 200, including for example a gaming floor management server 208, and a licensing server 209 to monitor the use of licenses to particular games. An administrator terminal 210 is provided to allow an administrator to manage the network 201 and the devices connected to the network. The different servers depicted can be distinct physical servers or logically distinct server processes running on a single physical server.

The gaming system 200 may communicate with other gaming systems, other local networks, for example a corporate network and/or a wide area network such as the Internet through a firewall 211.

FIG. 5 shows a process flow diagram of a process performed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The process may be performed by the gaming system 200, in which the gaming consoles 114 each include game controllers 101 to form gaming machines 100 and the following description assumes this implementation. However, those skilled in the relevant arts will appreciate that the process will also be able to be implemented by other gaming systems.

In step 1, the game controller 101 monitors the bill acceptor and/or coin input 110 and/or information received by the card/ticket reader 108 or network card 112 for a deposit of credit and in response causes the hardware meters 104 to increment according to the denomination of the game. By way of example, a player may deposit $100 into the gaming machine 100.

If tournament mode has not been selected (step 2), or if the gaming console 114 is otherwise not eligible to play the tournament, the game controller 101 then monitors the user interface 107 for the input of a wager and a non-tournament game is played in the usual manner for a gaming machine (step 3). This may involve, for example, displaying symbols on the display 106 dependent on the random number(s) generated by the RNG 113 and paying any awards won from the game, which may be credits, feature games, fixed prizes, jackpots. For the purposes of the following description, however, it is assumed that no game is played without tournament mode and that therefore the player has $100 credit at the commencement of tournament mode.

The bank of buttons/touch screen 107 includes a button, icon or other selectable mechanism to enable tournament mode to be selected. For example, the bank of buttons 107A may include a tournament button 107C, shown specifically only in FIG. 5. When the tournament button 107C is actuated by the player, a menu pops up on the display 106 showing other machines forming part of, or in communication with the gaming system 200, which are waiting to enter into tournament mode. An example menu 50 is shown in FIG. 6.

The menu 50 shows how much money each other gaming machine 100 in tournament mode has available for the tournament. In FIG. 6, there are currently three other gaming machines 100 waiting to enter tournament mode, indicated by identifiers 51, 52 and 53, each of which have an amount to ‘play’ 54, 55, 56 respectively and an amount to ‘gamble’ 57, 58, 59 respectively. The player may, for example, select player 2 by touching the display 106 at the location of the ‘Player 2’ icon.

Each gaming machine 100 listed in the menu 50 may be associated with a real player. In one embodiment, the gaming system 200 may also provide virtual players in addition to real players, in which case the ‘house’ gambles against the player. For example, the game server 205 may implement a virtual player, using an associated RNG to compete against a real player at one of the gaming consoles 114. This may be of use, for example, when there are a low number of real players participating in the tournament or if a player has indicated a desire to enter a tournament and no other player has selected to play against that player for a certain duration, for example 2 minutes. Optionally, a player may be given a choice whether or not he or she wishes to play a virtual player, the choice given with a selectable menu item.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the tournament requires an equal amount to be allocated to ‘play’ and ‘gamble’. In other embodiments, there may be another fixed relationship between the play and gamble amounts. For example, the gamble amount could be twice the play amount where a shorter tournament is required for a relatively large prize, or half the play amount where a longer tournament is required for a relatively small prize. In still other embodiments, players may be free to select the amount to be played and the amount to be gambled, using appropriate buttons forming part of the user interface 107. The freedom of choice may be constrained within bounds. For example, if a player is playing on a $1 machine, then the amount played and the amount gambled may be constrained to between $10 and $200. The constraints, if any, may be selected dependent on a required average time for each tournament, the denomination of the gaming machines 100 that participate in the tournament, the average return to player of the gaming machines 100 and the gambling strategy or average gambling strategy (see herein below) set for the tournament.

The player operates the bank of buttons/touch screen 107 to select a machine/player against which they wish to play (step 4). Once selected the gaming machine 100 of each player changes to a tournament screen, indicating to the player that game play from that point on will be in a tournament. The tournament screen and/or tournament game play may be controlled by the game controller 101, which may receive communications regarding the progress of the tournament, including when an opponent has lost the tournament (see below) from the network, for example from the gaming floor management server 208 or game server 205 performing a tournament management function, or a dedicated tournament server (not shown). The gaming machines 100 may optionally prompt for confirmation from both players that they wish to participate in the tournament before proceeding. Alternatively, the tournament may be run centrally, for example by the game server 205 determining the tournament outcomes and/or controlling a display 106 of the gaming machines 100 participating in the tournament. In another alternative, the tournament may be downloaded from the database management server to a gaming machine 100 and executed by the gaming machine 100.

The player may for example, select ‘Player 2’ from the menu 50. By selecting Player 2, the player indicates that he or she wishes to stake $100, which is in this example the entire amount in the credit meter. The menu 50 may prevent selection of Player 3 (requiring a stake of $400) unless the player has at least $400 in the credit meter of the gaming machine 100 that he or she is playing, or may allow selection but prevent commencement of the tournament until a required amount has been deposited. This inability to select Player 3 may be indicated, for example, by displaying the entry for Player 3 in grey.

In response to selecting Player 2, the gaming machine 100 displays a tournament screen (step 5), allocates $50 to a tournament meter and allocates $50 to a tournament pot. The credit meter is decreased by $100 and in the example will become zero. In alternative embodiments, the tournament meter may be omitted, with players instead playing with credit directly from the normal credit meter on the gaming machine 100.

An example of a tournament screen is illustrated diagrammatically in FIG. 7. The tournament screen 70 includes a game screen 71, in which the tournament game outcomes are displayed. The tournament game outcomes displayed in the game screen 71 may be any required type and style of game where wagers are made on a per game play basis. For example, the tournament game may be a spinning reel game, a card game or a dice game. The tournament game may include feature games of the type known for these styles of games, which may offer larger tournament awards than the normal tournament game.

In one embodiment, the tournament game is identical to a game that could otherwise be played on the gaming machine 100. For example, the tournament game may be the Queen of the Nile™ game from Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Ltd. In this embodiment, the players of the tournament are simultaneously playing the tournament and the Queen of the Nile™ game.

The tournament screen 70, in this embodiment, includes a credit meter of the standard type, showing how much is in the credit meter on the gaming machine 100, a tournament meter 73 showing the balance of the play credits a player has for a tournament, a win meter 74 showing the win, if any, resulting from the immediately preceding game play, a bet meter 75 showing the current wager on the game and a rank meter 76, showing the position of the player in the tournament. The tournament meter 73 in the example described herein above will commence with $50 worth of credit, being the amount available for the ‘Play’ part of the tournament. Although not shown in FIG. 7, the tournament screen 70 may also display the ‘Gamble’ amount, in the example $50 or an equivalent value in credit.

Tournament play then begins (step 6). Each gaming machine 100 in the tournament places the same wager in each game play as each other gaming machine 100, but uses different random numbers from their respective RNG 113 to determine the outcome of their respective games. The mathematics of the games provided on the gaming machines are the same or at least substantially the same, so as to maintain fairness between gaming machines, but the game presentation, for example the game theme, may differ between the gaming machines.

The wager for each game play of a tournament may be set by the gaming system 200. For example, in a spinning reel game, the tournament may require each game play to constitute 5 pay lines at $1 per line. Optionally the wager may vary throughout the tournament, for example either according to a fixed pattern or a random selection process, which may be constrained not to exceed the amount left for the game of any player.

As the tournament progresses, players win and lose credits, affecting the balance in the tournament meter 73. In one embodiment, the tournament continues until one of the players reaches a balance of $0 in the tournament meter (step 7). If this occurs, the other player is declared the winner and is paid the tournament pot (of $100 in the example). The tournament meter of that player will therefore have whatever value was in it when the other player's balance reached $0 plus $100 of credit. The value of the tournament meter is then transferred to the credit meter 72 on the gaming machine 100 the player is playing (step 8), which the player may cash out and retain, or use for other activities, like entering another tournament or playing a non-tournament game on the gaming machine 100.

The gaming system 200 may control the rate at which each player in the tournament plays, so as ensure that each player has played an equal number of game plays. For example, the gaming machines 100 may communicate with each other via the network when a player has pressed the play button and only display the outcome of the current game play after the play button on each machine has been depressed. For a spinning reel game, the reels may commence spinning immediately, but only stop after the other player has depressed the play button. The gaming machines may minimise delay by providing, for example, a maximum of 10 seconds to push the play button, else the game play commences automatically.

Alternatively, the players may be free to play at different rates. In this embodiment, when a player who has played at a faster play rate reaches a balance of zero or otherwise reaches the terminating game event first, that player will have to wait until the other player reaches the same number of game plays before he or she knows whether they have won the tournament. If the gaming system 200 includes player tracking and the players have identified themselves to the gaming system 200, then the earlier finishing player may leave, with any win from the tournament being credited to the player's account. Using player tracking, a tournament between two players may be allowed to occur over a plurality of gaming sessions, that may be separated in time. Some limits may be placed on the tournament duration, for example to specify that the tournament must be completed within 7 days of commencement, or else the tournament will automatically end, with the winner determined or the tournament pot distributed. Examples of tournament pot distribution are provided herein in relation to a player selecting to cash out part way through a tournament.

The tournament may end on other terminating events. For example, the tournament may have a maximum number of game plays, which may be a fixed number, for example 200 or may be variable, to be set by the players or by the gaming system 200. Where the gaming system 200 sets the number of game plays, this may be determined based on the amount staked. For example a tournament where each player contributes $100 to the pot and $100 to the tournament meter and in which each wager or the average wager is $5, may have a maximum duration of 500 games, whereas a $40 tournament may have a maximum duration of 200 games. The maximum duration may be set in relation to the expected return to player of the gaming machines, for example so that a certain percentage of tournaments, for example 90%, finish with one player reaching zero credits before the maximum number of games is reached.

The players in the tournament may be prevented from cashing out until the end of the tournament, or if the player does cash out then he or she may forfeit the tournament, with the tournament pot being paid to the other player.

Alternatively, the players may be given the option to cash out or otherwise cease the tournament without forfeiting his or her entire contribution to the tournament pot. In one embodiment a penalty may be imposed that depends on how much the tournament has progressed. In one embodiment, if the tournament was to last 50 game plays and the player cashes out after 10 game plays, then the player may forfeit 20% of his or her contribution to the tournament pot to the other player. In another embodiment, the gaming system 200 may calculate the probability of the player losing the tournament from the current position, with the player forfeiting a percentage of his or her contribution in line with the probability of losing. For example, if the player was ahead in the tournament, with a 70% chance of winning, the player may forfeit 30% of his or her contribution to the other player.

Referring back to FIG. 6, in one embodiment, the player may not wish to play a tournament at the level of any of the existing players. The player may then select the ‘Let my opponent select me’ icon 60 in the menu 50. This corresponds to the ‘NO’ decision from step 4 in FIG. 5. If in step 4 the player does not select another player to play against, the player may be given an option to enter an amount that the player wishes to stake in the tournament (step 9). In various embodiments, the player may be free to enter any amount, may be constrained to within a range, or may have to select from a specific number of currently unselected amounts. The player's selection may be checked against existing players in case the player missed a match (step 10) and if there is no match, the entered amount is stored (step 11), to enable display in the menu 50 of other gaming machines, awaiting another player who selects to play at the entered amount (step 12).

The gaming system 200 may also provide the player a choice as to the number of players they wish to play with in the tournament. This may, for example, be provided as a preliminary selection, so that the menu 50 displayed differs depending on the number of players selected. In other words, there may be one menu of players for two-player tournaments, another menu for three player tournaments and so on if tournaments for other numbers of players are offered.

The gaming machine 100 may time how long a player views the menu 50. In one embodiment, the player may be given a set period, for example 30 seconds, to select a player, following which the menu 50 may be removed and the player either given the option to play a non-tournament game, or redisplay the menu 50 to make a selection.

In another embodiment, the menu 50 may include a button that enables the player to proceed directly to playing a virtual opponent as described herein. The virtual opponents may be able to play at any amount, may be constrained within a range, or may have fixed tournament levels for selection by the player.

While in the foregoing description the gaming machines 100 play the tournament at the option of a player and otherwise allow non-tournament game play, it is also possible to make a gaming machine 100 dedicated to tournament play. Dedicated gaming machines 100 must enter the tournament if played.

Also, for simplicity, the foregoing description has focussed on a two-player tournament. However, three or more players may participate in the tournament, which creates a larger tournament pot. The tournament pot need not be awarded entirely to the winner and may be partially distributed to other players. For example, in a two player tournament, the winner may receive 80% of the tournament pot and the loser 20%. In a three player tournament, the pot may be split between the first and second place getters, or between all three.

The tournament may also, or instead, utilise funds other than money/credits. For example, loyalty points or other bonus points may be used to enter an play in a tournament. The prize from the tournament may be bonus points or may be credits.

While the foregoing description has been provided by way of example of the preferred embodiments of the present invention as presently contemplated, which utilise gaming machines of the type found in casinos, those skilled in the relevant arts will appreciate that the present invention also may have application to internet gaming and/or have application to gaming over a telecommunications network, where handsets are used to display game outcomes and receive player inputs.

Where in the foregoing description reference has been made to integers having known equivalents, then those equivalents are hereby incorporated herein as if individually set forth.

Those skilled in the relevant arts will appreciate that modifications and additions to the embodiments of the present invention may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

It will be understood that the invention disclosed and defined in this specification extends to all alternative combinations of two or more of the individual features mentioned or evident from the text or drawings. All of these different combinations constitute various alternative aspects of the invention. 

1. A method of providing a tournament game for use with a plurality of linked gaming machines that are each arranged to select symbols, present the selected symbols on a display and award an award if a winning outcome occurs, the method including: establishing a common amount to gamble in the tournament between two or more players, wherein the collective amounts to gamble form a tournament pot; playing a common wagering game in which each matched player stakes a wager on game plays of the wagering game and is awarded a prize for any win occurring in that game play, wherein the wager is separate from and in addition to said common amount to gamble and wherein each matched player is required to stake the same wager on their respective game plays; on a tournament terminating event, awarding a prize to one or more of the players from the tournament pot.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the common wagering game is presented differently to two or more of the players.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of playing the common wagering game includes setting a fixed starting amount available to be wagered by each said player and maintaining a balance available to be wagered, wherein the value of the balance increases for wins and decreases losses in the common wagering game.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the prize from the tournament pot is awarded to one or more winning players, wherein a said winning player is identified from the respective balances of the players.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein a said winning player is the last player playing the wagering game that has a non-zero balance.
 6. The method of claim 3 wherein on a said tournament terminating event, if a player has a non-zero balance available to be wagered, then that player retains the balance in addition to any said prize from the tournament pot.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein a said terminating event is the balance of every player except one reaching zero.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the player with a non-zero balance is awarded the entire tournament pot.
 9. The method of claim 3 wherein the fixed starting amount available to be wagered has a defined mathematical relationship with the common amount to gamble.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the fixed starting amount available to be wagered in the tournament game is set to equal the common amount to gamble.
 11. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of establishing a common amount to gamble includes providing each player a choice of the amount to gamble, and matching two or more players by their respective chosen amounts to gamble.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the steps of offering a choice and matching include displaying to a player one or more other players willing to play the tournament and those player's respective chosen amounts to gamble; and allowing the player to complete the step of matching by making a selection from the other players displayed.
 13. The method of claim 1 including providing an option to the player of a said gaming machine to play the tournament, wherein if play of the tournament is not selected, the player can play the wagering game without also wagering said amount to gamble.
 14. The method of claim 1 wherein the tournament is provided to three or more players.
 15. The method of claim 1 wherein the common wagering game played by each player in a said tournament provides a substantially equal expected return for the wagers staked.
 16. The method of claim 1 wherein the common wagering game played by each player has identical mathematics.
 17. A gaming system including a plurality of linked gaming machines that are each arranged to select symbols, present the selected symbols on a display and award an award if a winning outcome occurs, the gaming system operating to: establish a common amount to gamble in the tournament between two or more players, wherein the collective amounts to gamble form a tournament pot; play a common wagering game in which each matched player stakes a wager on game plays of the wagering game and is awarded a prize for any win occurring in that game play, wherein the wager is separate from and in addition to said common amount to gamble and wherein each matched player is required to stake the same wager on their respective game plays; on a tournament terminating event, award a prize to one or more of the matched players from the tournament pot.
 18. The gaming system of claim 17, wherein: the gaming system establishes a fixed starting amount available to be wagered by each said player in the common wagering game and the gaming machines each maintain a balance available to be wagered, wherein the value of the balance increases for wins and decreases losses in the common wagering game; the gaming system awards the prize from the tournament pot to one or more winning players, wherein a said winning player is identified from the respective balances of the players; and if on a said tournament terminating event, a player has a non-zero balance available to be wagered, then the gaming machine played by that player retains the balance in its credit meter and also pays to the credit meter any said prize payable to the player of that gaming machine from the tournament pot.
 19. The gaming system of claim 17, wherein a said terminating event is one or more of the players reaching a balance of zero and a said winning player is a player with a non-zero balance on occurrence of the terminating event.
 20. The method of claim 1, further comprising instructions executable in a gaming system to implement the method. 